Chicken Soup
by romancing-the-moon
Summary: A sick Kathryn gets a visit from Jimmy who brings her two cures for the common cold.


He could sweet-talk anyone, waitress, meter maids, and the security guard at the offices of the assistant district attorney building, even if they were male.

"Yeah, I'll see you, Jimmy!"

"Thanks man. I owe you one!"

He waltzed past the lines of people waiting for the security check, grinning at x who shot him an offended look.

"Oh, Jimmy?"

He turned back as the guard came running up to him. "Kathryn didn't come in today."

"What?"

"Yeah. I just double checked the log. She didn't sign in this morning."

"Right. And no one ever gets past you."

"You know it!"

"Thanks again, man."

"Yeah, no problem. Hey, give my sister a call, hey?"

Jimmy laughed and headed for the elevator.

/

"Where's Katie?"

"Called in sick today. What are you doing here? How did you get passed security?"

"Sick? Katie? Is she dying?"

"You haven't answered my questions."

"Ah, c'mon, Edge. You know me." Jimmy's eyes twinkled as he slapped a file folder down on Edge's desk. "This is for Katie when she gets back. Make sure she gets it?" Edge went to grab it but Jimmy swiped it away. "On second thought... I'll see you, Edge."

"Yeah," he muttered as Jimmy headed for the elevators. "Say hello to security for me."

/

"Hey Katie!" He said stood outside under her apartment window with a grocery bag in his hand. "I brought you some soup."

She rolled her eyes. "What's in the other bag?" she asked hoarsely, holding a tissue over her nose.

He grinned. "Open up and I'll show you!"

She disappeared into her apartment and held the buzzer just long enough for him to run and open the door before she let her finger up; he ran upstairs and while she headed back to bed.

/

"You must be dying, Katie," he bellows into the apartment, throwing open the door and setting his bags down on the table. There's no answer but he's not expecting one, really. Instead, he pulls a bowl out of the cupboard and pours the hot soup out for her. "Honestly. I think you were sick, what, once, when we were at Yale? Never in your career..." He pulled out her kettle and a handful of tea bags, dropping in a few. "Like seriously, Katie. Do you wanna go to the hospital? Because I can take you if you need to..."

He pops his head into her bedroom, trailing off when he finds her curled up in bed beneath a mountain of blankets beside a garbage overflowing with used tissues; her feet stuck out of the end of the blankets. He stood over her feet, looking up her encased body but she refused to acknowledge his presence. Slowly, he reached out and brushed the bottom of her feet with his index finger and she finally responded, kicking him in the leg.

"Hey!" he cried, feigning pain as his leg gave way and he nearly crashed into her bed on top of her. "You'll make me spill your soup!" She pouted defiantly and sat up, not bothering to move over when he sat down beside her on the edge of her bed, soup bowl in one hand, spoon in the other. It was only then that she noticed the canvas bag hanging off his arm.

"What's in the bag?"

"Geez Katie," he said handing her the bowl and spoon. "You sound like a 13 year old boy."

"Oh, thanks," she said sarcastically, taking the soup and eyeing him carefully. "Did you bring me a kind that I like?"

"No," he stood and he walked over to her television. Bending down, he started unloading his bag and began to hook up cords and cables. "I deliberately brought you a kind of soup that you hate because I secretly hate you."

"Har har," she took a spoonful of soup and barely swallowed before she dove in for the second spoonful. "What are you doing?"

He stood and turned to her, grinning triumphantly.

"This, my dear Katie, is the cure for all sickness."

"Better than soup?"

"Works better in tandem, that's why I brought both," he hopped back on to her bed, handing her a Nintendo Wii-mote game controller.

She eyed him warily, taking the Wii-mote from his hands. "Fine. But I get to be the princess."

He grinned and wrapped an arm around her warm shoulders; she pulled her legs up and crossed them under the blankets, and set the bowl down in her lap. She leaned into him and he shifted his weight to accommodate her beside him.

"Fine. But only if I can be your favourite plumber."

/

"Jimmy. You stole my only star!"

"Yeah. That was pretty awesome."

"Well at least I didn't loose a cake decorating contest against a princess and her pet dinosaur."

"His name is Yoshi and he is not your pet."

"He is if I say he is."

"Right because you're the princess."

"Damn straight."

"Whatever, Princess. We're finished now and I ho ho ho! I won!"

He snatched the Wii-mote from her hand; twenty turns, twenty mini-games, and six stars later he was packing up the Wii, ready to leave for the night. She settled herself back in bed and he pulled the blanket up over he shoulders, making sure that her feet were covered.

"You'll be here in the morning?" she mumbled as he collected her soup bowl and spoon; her eyelids were starting to droop.

"No baby," he whispered, kissing the top of her head gently. "But if you need anything, you can call me, okay?"

She sighed, rubbing her nose against her pillows in an attempt to find his hand again without having to open his eyes. "I need you to stay."

"Katie - "

"Jimmy - " she started coughing hard and he brushed a hand against her burning forehead.

"Alright. I'll take the couch. Let me know if you need anything, okay Princess?"

A smile tweaked the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry, my dear plumber, but your princess is in another castle." She opened her eyes to his grinning face and she moved over, giving him just enough room to lie down beside her.

"Nah," he said as she coiled herself against his body, letting precious sleep take her. "She's right here beside me."

/

She found him come morning, curled up on her too-short couch with a thin blanket over his legs and his arms wrapped around his chest. She dragged her heavy duvet from her bed and draped it over him. She made a hot bowl of soup and set it on the coffee table in front of him before she left for work. He was still here when she got home from work, surprisingly earlier than normal, but maybe not so surprising, given the circumstances.

She set up the Wii quickly and tickled the bottom of his feet, making him wake up. Gasping and nearly kicking her in the leg, he scowled at her before he pulled himself into a sitting position. Eagerly, grinning from ear to ear, she handed him a Wii-mote, ready for a re-match.

/


End file.
